Family Policy Alliance of NM: New Mexicans Agree! Say NO to Big Marijuana!

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We thank our Dear Freind in Jesus, Vince Torres, President of NM Family Alliance for this report! Please pray about financially supporting this wonderful organization!

New Mexicans Agree! Say NO to Big Marijuana!
Say No to Marijuana
Dear Friends:

Will New Mexico be the next state to legalize recreational marijuana? Not if our Governor and our Legislators listen to the people and pay attention to the facts.

Earlier this week, our friends at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) released a poll conducted by Emerson College which found that more than 63% of New Mexico voters do not support the legalization of recreational marijuana.

According to the poll, 42% percent of voters support the status quo in New Mexico—decriminalization for small amounts and legal medicinal marijuana—and 22% favor keeping marijuana illegal for use and possession. Ultimately, just 34% percent of voters favor full legalization.

‪This poll will no doubt shock the pot industry, but it does not surprise us. Most New Mexicans recognize that our state is already facing major challenges related to homelessness, crime, drug use, poverty, and mental health. So why would we further aggravate these issues by repeating the mistakes of states like Colorado?‬‬

Consider these facts:

  • Marijuana-impaired driving fatalities in Colorado have more than doubled since legalization.
  • Colorado now leads the nation in first-time marijuana use among youth and marijuana-related ER visits by Colorado teens are on the rise.
  • Between 2017 and 2018, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon—three states with legalized marijuana—were among the top four states with an increase in chronically homeless people.
  • After legalization in Colorado, the percentage of Hispanic teens arrested increased by 29% (between 2012 and 2014).
  • Marijuana more than doubles the risk of developing opioid use disorder or initiating nonmedical prescription opioid use.

We are glad that so many New Mexicans recognize the threats that recreational pot poses to our public health and safety. Though Big Marijuana advocates try to hide the ugly truths about recreational marijuana legalization, we are proud to be working with SAM and other local groups to make sure that citizens and lawmakers have the facts—because the facts make it very clear. Recreational marijuana is wrong for New Mexico and this year, Democrats and Republicans should again “Say NO to Big Marijuana.

By the way, if you want to see what legal pot really looks like in Colorado, click here to watch our latest video!

Sincerely,
Vince-sig.pngVInce Torres
Vince Torres,
President & Executive Director
Mailing Address:
223 N Guadalupe St, Suite 514
Santa Fe, NM 87501
FamilyPolicyAlliance.com/NewMexico
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We must not legalize recreational pot! I am being told right here in Albuquerque many are getting very sick from smoking so much pot! It is just plain BAD! The politicians see the MONEY created by legalizing pot, not how it damages people! Follow the money! The politicians want the cash for the state coffers, this is what they call diversifying the economy!  Here at FGGAM we put life before all this evil like recreational pot, booze, gambling, drugs, ….our number one fight is for life, we are against abortion! WE have been outspoken about pot dating back to my days at KKIM Christian Radio, the same as abortion, booze, casino gambling and drugs and other evils. The Body of Christ has done wonderful work against the killing of God’s babies, but we must also SPEAK OUT against pot!! Will you? Dr. Guy Clark (Who posts here at FGGAM) of Albuquerque has spoken out for years against casino gambling, I thank the Lord for him! Where is the Church on that? I do my best to post information on all these issues, I thank people like Ethel Maharg, Elisa Martinez, Betty Eichenseer and Vince Torres my heroes on the fight against abortion for all their help! Drunk Driving deaths is another severe problem here in New Mexico. Where is the Church on the drinking of booze? All these issues that I am sharing about affect the future of our children! What are you doing about it? We here at FGGAM are dedicated to serve our Lord, to stand in the gap for Him on these issues until He calls us home.

What Does it Mean to Stand in the Gap for God?

We need to clean up our act, as my Daddy used to say!

What kind of world do you want to hand down to your children? Your grandbabies?

From Dr. Jim Denison at FGGAM: Solomon noted: “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14). Servants who lead as they are led by Christ are the great need of our day.

If you have influence with even one person, you are a leader. Jesus’ word to his first disciples is his word to us: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26).

Whom will you serve today in his name? What courageous stand will you take for the Lord you serve?

When Jack Wilson (Hero of the Texas Church Shootings) received the Medal of Courage on Monday, he responded: “When events arise, you’re going to do one of two things. You’re either going to step up and do what’s right or walk away, and I’m not one to walk away.”

Which “one of two things” will you do today?

Marijuana may accelerate the growth of this common cancer — study
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, doesn’t just get you high. It accelerates the growth of one common cancer, new research in animals and humans, suggests.

Read in Inverse: https://apple.news/Ac4t1QTeXQ16JMGnlkR1Zdw

From July 23rd of 2019 from Chuck Akeley of Albuquerque:

“Legalization” Of Marijuana In New Mexico – Is This Really A Good Idea?

 

In our country and yes, our state, it has become almost fashionable to support the growth and use of marijuana, whether for medicinal use or recreational use.  So much so, that even our state executive and many legislators consider government sanctioned and controlled distribution of marijuana to be a worthy effort as means to acquire tax dollars.  Let’s consider some of the well-established issues facing New Mexico.  For many years, we’ve been rated at the bottom or almost the bottom for quality of education, children living in poverty, drug use (e.g., opioid use), drug trafficking (I-40, I-10, I-25 and the southern border corridors) and DWI offenders (including the associated deaths).  Is there really wisdom in enhancing these issues by creating a culture of “legalized” use of marijuana here in New Mexico?

 

A wise man once told me that if you have any doubt as to whether to do or say something, then ask yourself, would you look to Jesus and say “Lord, I do this thing as unto You” or “Lord, I give You thanks for this which I am about to do.”  If the answer is no, then why are you doing it?  Would you ask Jesus to bless your firing up of a joint or bowl or eating of a laced edible so that you would experience a high?  The scripture says we should seek His wisdom.  According to Proverbs 4:7, “[w]isdom is the principal thing; [t]herefore get wisdom [NKJV].”  Ephesians 5:15-21 instructs us to walk in wisdom:  “[s]ee then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [NKJV].”  Just because we CAN do something doesn’t necessarily mean we SHOULD do something.

 

My background includes a few years as a Special Agent with the USAF Office of Special Investigations, during which much of the training involved drug enforcement.  I spent the first year after completing the initial academy leading the Travis AFB, CA Joint Drug Enforcement Team and subsequently worked for several years at Holloman AFB, NM participating in drug enforcement operations with the other agents.  Once you have strapped on the equipment and executed a few warrants, you tend to develop a very different perspective about “low level drug use,” as the small amounts of drugs came from someone who was probably not your next door neighbor, and that person’s drugs came from a trafficker – a very dangerous person.  The perspective that I’m not hurting anyone is a big lie.  It is not surprising to me that the military and local or state police have had to lower standards in order to acquire acceptable cadets.  Today, our children and youth often do things as a result of cultural or peer influences which can devastate future employment opportunities.  How much worse it is when our children’s parents are the ones modeling this behavior?  I thank God that our Lord is forgiving and merciful, and am reminded that we are called to forgive others and to help guide our friends, family and others unto salvation and into their God-given destiny!

 

It’s interesting to hear discussions about “legalizing” recreational use of marijuana at the state level.  If a state allows something that is forbidden at the federal level, it is not really legal, but what is happening is that the federal government has elected, as a matter of enforcement discretion, to refrain from seeking prosecution under certain circumstances and the state has elected to ignore existing federal code or statutes.  The federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), 21 USC 812, establishes five schedules of controlled substances, identified as Schedules I, II, III, IV and V.  Schedule I lists substances that have been determined to have:  1) a high potential for abuse; 2) no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and 3) a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or substance under medical supervision.  The psychoactive substance in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”), remains to this day a listed Schedule I substance.  Because of this, many states have struggled with the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana and declare legality, when in point of fact, what is occurring is simply enforcement discretion at the federal level and a glaring lack of willingness of the federal government to take a solid position one way or the other.

 

There is MUCH remaining to be said about this issue, including the increasing levels of THC in modern-grown marijuana plants provided by dispensaries and technologically-advanced illicit grows, the lack of clear means for law enforcement to easily determine the degree of driving impairment compared to determining alcohol impairment, the effect that such has or may have on us developmentally, mentally and physically, the wisdom and procedure for assuring sound regulatory controls at the federal and state level – and assuming this issue isn’t going away quickly, the spiritual implications of encouraging, yet another mind altering substance for use by our residents, demonstrating yet again, the wisdom of man in the face of the wisdom of God.

 

Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You would speak to the hearts of those in a position to encourage, allow, regulate and/or spend tax dollars on marijuana matters in our beautiful State of New Mexico (and across this nation).  Give us ears to hear and eyes to see what is the will of God.  May wisdom guide our discussions and determinations, with a mighty hedge of protection over all who are doing Your will and serving Your people, in light of this challenge.  But regardless, help us to always love.  Always.  Amen.

 

Chuck Akeley

Albuquerque, New Mexico

From Jan. 10th, 2019

From Dr. Guy Clark:

About a week ago Thom Cole wrote a good article in the Santa Fe New Mexican about the failure of the state to take gambling addiction seriously.  I thought it would be useful to reveal more details about the state’s failure, so I wrote this op-ed for the Albuquerque Journal that appeared today.  It’s not just that the state fails to do a good job of attacking this enormous health problem (state studies since 1997 have indicated that there are between 35,000 to 45,000 problem gamblers in the state), the health department does not even recognize the problem.  I hope you will read this article and encourage your state legislators to hold legislative hearings next month to remedy this problem.

To contact your legislator open the “Find Your Legislator by Address” page by clicking here.  On the “Political Body” field you can scroll down to pick the house or the senate, then add your address in the following field.  That will bring up a field with your legislator’s picture and name.   You can then click on his/her name and it will take you to their legislative page where you can find their contact information.

The most effective contacts are by phone, so you could call your legislator at their home, since they won’t be at their Santa Fe office until mid-January.  An email would also probably get to them.  You could say something like, “I read the article about problem gambling in the Albuquerque Journal (or the SF New Mexican), and think that it is disgraceful that the state does nothing to help problem gamblers.  Would you please do what you can to get legislation moving to get the health department to create an office that deals with gambling addiction?”

Stop Predatory Gambling New Mexico will be at the legislature and will use what influence we have to get legislation moving to get the state engaged in helping our citizens.

Thank you for your help,

Dr. Guy C. Clark, chairman

Stop Predatory Gambling New Mexico

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